‘Heated Rivalry’ Star Connor Storrie Reflects on His Sexuality

Connor Storrie is keeping parts of his life private — most notably, his sexual orientation.

The actor has gained wide acclaim for his work in the hit romance series Heated Rivalry, where he plays Ilya Rozanov.

His character is a closeted hockey player involved in a sexual and romantic relationship with his “rival” Shane Hollander (Hudson Williams).

Following the explosive success the Canadian series has experienced, its actors have found themselves in the middle of the discourse.

As the conversation about straight actors playing gay characters continues to divide viewers, actors in breakout hits often become flashpoints for debates about representation.

There has been a lot of speculation about Storrie — and Williams’ — sexuality, with some viewers accusing the actors of exploiting the community through queerbaiting.

When Deadline caught up with the actors to discuss the show’s success, Storrie acknowledged the massive pressure rising from Heated Rivalry‘s success.

“I think there’s so much energy that is coming at us with the rise of this show, and for me, at least, I think it’s important for me to have a little bit of separation from the character in the show,” he said in the interview.

“All I can really say is that I love Ilya, I love the community that this is a part of and that this caters to. I think that’s so much more interesting and valuable than doing just another run-of-the-mill, straight story,” the actor continued.

As for his own sexuality, Storrie would rather keep that secret to himself. He explained:

Who I date, who I sleep with, who this, that, whatever, I’m gonna keep that to myself. But regardless, I think this is super important, and I think also on top of that, it’s just really cool.

But even with Storrie deciding to keep his sexual orientation close to the vest, Heated Rivalry continues to attract controversy from all corners, especially regarding its cast’s sexualities.

‘Heated Rivalry’s Representation Controversy

Photo: Sabrina Lantos/HBO Max

The show found itself in the middle of controversy almost immediately after the first episode aired.

It was incredibly raunchy, and creator Jacob Tierney was not trying to hide the fact that Heated Rivalry is smut, and that’s what he wanted to make.

Soon, the conversation shifted to its representation of queer people in the cast and crew, and Tierney brushed the question aside.

“I don’t think there’s any reason to get into that stuff,” he said in an interview with Xtra, shutting down a question about how personal the roles were to Storrie and Williams.

“I’ll tell you something about the casting of both of these roles. You can’t ask questions like that when you’re casting, right? It’s actually against the law,” Tierney added, presenting another side of the conversation.

A short while later, François Arnaud, an out bisexual actor on the show, weighed in on the issue in an interview with Variety.

“It’s absurd to think that you should be allowed to ask about someone’s sexuality when they’re trying to get hired for a job,” the The Borgias star said. “It’s crazy, like we’re only going to hire you if you’re gay? And then it’s, like, how gay are you? It’s a spectrum.”

He later clarified that he was showing solidarity with the newcomers who had found themselves thrown to the wolves.

“I wanted to stand up for my co-stars who have been famous for nine days. Can we just give them a break?” the Yellowjackets actor told Vulture.

From Jordan Firstman‘s criticism of the show’s sex scenes to the recurring conversation about the cast’s sexuality, Heated Rivalry continues to heat up the discourse, and it’s far from over.